P.K. Ojong -- A simple life full of achievement
P.K. Ojong -- A simple life full of achievement
Lie Hua, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Hidup Sederhana Berpikir Mulia; P.K. OJONG - Satu Dari Dua
Pendiri Kompas Gramedia (Live Simple, Think Noble - P.K. OJONG -
One of Two Founders of Kompas Gramedia); By Helen Ishwara;
Published by Kompas, Jakarta, September 2001, xii + 340 pages
Man dies but his deeds will live on in the memory of the
living. That is why a biography is interesting as we can learn
from someone's past act, good or bad.
This biography of PK Ojong (1920 - 1980) is also intriguing
because it provides insight into how an Indonesian of Chinese
descent made himself accepted in the entire Indonesian community
and developed into a respected journalist and mass-media
entrepreneur.
Born Auwyong Peng Koen in Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, Ojong got
formal training as a teacher in Jakarta before he continued his
law studies at the University of Indonesia, which he left with a
degree in 1951.
Although he came from quite a well-off family, Ojong had from
early in his life been raised in frugality. His father would tell
him and his siblings to leave no grain of rice on their plate.
Frugality, for him, was one of his life principles until his
death. In his adult years, he would, for example, wear a belt for
13 years, a year longer than his father's record.
One of his children recalled that even a small amount of
change had to be returned. It was Ojong's belief that everything
had to be calculated precisely. This, of course, does not
necessarily mean that he was stingy. He would donate large
amounts of money to the needy, but would resent donating even a
cent for wedding or Christmas parties. If you don't have the
money, you can just have simple parties, he seemed to believe.
What counts is the meaning of the event, not their festivities.
Ojong was also known as a man of principle. He would apply his
principles to everyone in his community -- his home or his
office, for example. Some people considered him too rigid but he
was proud of adhering to a principle he considered right.
He, for example, wanted nobody to wear sandals at the office
without a reason. One of his employees was stubborn so he was
told to put a bandage round the big toe so that there was a good
reason for him to wear sandals. This small anecdotal happening
shows that Ojong was principled but also considerate.
One thing worth remembering about him was his clear separation
of office and family or relation affairs. He would never allow
any blood or friendship relations to affect his office/business
affairs. Hence his belief that his business undertakings would
survive because it would not depend on him personally or his
family or relatives, but on true professionals.
Ojong learned the journalistic trade when in 1946 he joined
Star Weekly, a magazine intended for non-Chinese-speaking Chinese
Indonesians. He began as a contributor and ended up as its
managing editor. During his stint here, he showed his knack as an
excellent editor as he knew who he had to contact to write
articles for the weekly. He also showed his ability to present
something for lay readers. He would prepare some questions that a
lay reader might ask about an article or would rewrite an article
so that it would be easy enough for a lay reader.
The book gives a lengthy and detailed account of how Ojong
later published a magazine modeled after Reader's Digest and then
Kompas daily. There are interesting stories about the early years
of these publications, an account of his great struggle to ensure
the two publications survival and to promote their development
into tow highly, if not the most, respected media publications in
the country. Tellingly, in this period, he practiced the
principles that he had adopted since his younger years:
frugality, punctuality, discipline.
As an Indonesian of Chinese descent, Ojong favored natural
assimilation of Chinese-Indonesians with indigenous Indonesians,
as opposed to the idea of integration advocated by the left-wing
Indonesians of Chinese origin.
In short, the book gives a full picture of Ojong as a human
being with his pluses and minuses. In his own rigid way, lacking
in humor, as some of his friends would put it, Ojong lived his
seemingly monolithic life colorfully. He did not confine himself
to just being the head of a family but also became the head of
his own community within the bigger scope of the entire
Indonesian community.